"Time, time, time... see what's become of me..."
I feel like days are slipping by me without even realizing it at times. It's a blur of day and night as I go through the necessary daily motions. I think part my my failure in keeping up with these updates is the day that I've established to try and get them out. So this one is going to be the first one that will be released on a new schedule.
Obviously, there hasn't been any new releases for some time now on any of my works, so there isn't much to say. However, I'm going to try and get something new out before the next update next week. That should be exciting, right?

Why is this update for the 17th-23rd late? Simply, I forgot to write it when I had an opportunity to do so early in the week. Thus, when I remembered that I hadn't done it I felt bad about it. But it did occur to me that, really, not much has changed since the last update. And carrying over from that, it doesn't seem like much is going to change for the following week either.

The personal matters I was dealing with that were causing me stress have largely been dealt with. There's still a few lingering elements left to clean up, but the freedom from the concerns they raised is visible and within reach. Once these are finally settled, I can start looking at coming up with a new writing schedule and get busy there so that I can release content on a routine basis again.

There is one thing, or I guess a small series of things, that I want to mention. I've been fortunate in my life to have had many loving pets. Unfortunately, in the last couple weeks my family and I have had to say goodbye to two of our cats. They had long lives, so it was the side effects of age mostly. We've also learned that another of our cats has two forms of cancer as well, so we'll likely be saying goodbye to him soon too. It's tough on the heartstrings. So there is that.

That's all for this update. Maybe you'll get lucky and get another one for the week of the 24th too.

Another week has already rolled by? Again I find that it was both too fast and too slow.

There hasn't been much writing this past week, so nothing new has been posted. I've been starting a new routine, which has started to address the heavy stressors I've been facing since August. There's still some way to go before there before those are behind me and I can start to think about things going forward. But the good news is that things are starting to look up.

Remember how last week I mentioned a list that had many ideas on it? It gained another one this week. I feel bad about coming up with new ideas when I haven't completed old ones. I guess I'm lucky that this new idea doesn't have a lot of steam behind it right now to occupy my, currently minimal, writing attention.

Spooky time.
I actually am quite adverse to horror and creepy stuff. I blame it on my imagination, which tends to run away with ideas and stimuli to spin tales. I think that this is part of my reason for developing a fear of bridges now when I used to have no issues. Too many movies with collapsing bridges and background people falling to their deaths.
I actually wanted to mention my runaway story brain for this update. It certainly looks like I have a lot of work already with five different series ongoing. But those are just the ones I have released chapters for! I have little spurts of story ideas that I feel I have to write in time. I started keeping a list of series ideas around the time I transferred to RoyalRoad. Some of the first ideas on that list are now My Twin Got Summoned Instead, The Last Magician, Portal Trading Company, and The Catalyst.
I have a friend that I've discussed some of my writing with (we also swap light novel and anime recommendations). I mentioned once how I had all these ideas that kept popping into my head. He asked me how I'm able to keep all my ideas within their respective stories. Now, I can't remember how I answered the question then, but the way I'm answering it today is as such: I just do. I suppose I would say that each story I write has its own folder in my brain. If I get an idea, it goes into the respective folder for that story. I may also write it down on my idea list or an outline I have for that particular story, but sometimes the idea is in too early a stage for that.
While this abundance of ideas is probably good from a creative perspective, it isn't so great from a productive perspective. Some days when writing I feel just a particular pull towards a particular story. That's one of the issues I have with keeping a writing schedule. If I'm going to resume a weekly release setup for There's a Hero in the Kingdom, I'm thinking I'm going to need a backlog of completed chapters for moments when the urge to write is on a different idea.
Now for some comments on latest chapters:

Portal Trading Company
My original idea for Story 7 was something almost akin to Back to the Future with the cowboy elements. If you want to imagine what Goldwater kind of looks like, watch the movie. It wasn't until I was actually writing the story that the native population switched from humans to centaurs. It made the story just a little more hilarious to me.

The Catalyst
Catalyst has been in development for a while. You can see the improvised cover I made for it here as part of the page's banner. That's been here since the beginning. The original first chapter was very different, but since I may retool it into a later chapter I don't want to spoil it just yet. Catalyst is also going to feel different than my other works since it's told from Lyst's perspective instead of a third person. So there's going to be quite a bit more of his internal monologue and thoughts compared to conversations. Of course, there will be more conversations once the cast expands, which it will in time.

Well that's everything for this week. My situation which has impacted my writing continues, but is looking like it will be getting better soon. Thanks for supporting me, if only by reading my works or my ramblings here.

It's been 20 years since those shocking events of September 11th... sometimes it feels hard to believe that it has already been so long. I guess if it wasn't already clear to those that are perhaps reading the backlog of my posts, I am an American and I am old enough to remember where I was that day.
I'm not here today to mess with others political opinions or conspiracy theories about what happened, why it happened, or what it has led to today. Nor am I going to really comment on the ongoing Afghanistan debacle happening right now. For me, this has always been a day to reflect on the fact that nearly 3,000 people died in a horrific manner. I can only imagine, and even still not match, the terror and sorrow that those innocent people experienced, the bravery of those who rushed to the sites to offer aid, and the pain that the families of those who lost someone experience. No amount of fictionalized writing from my head could ever match that.
To those of you that remember that day like I do, keep remembering a moment in time where politics and identity didn't matter. Remember a moment when we stood as one in support of each other and united in resolve. To those that don't remember that day, don't write this day off as us that do being overdramatic. This was a moment that will forever be etched into America's soul.